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Ubuntu Linux Primed for Life on Tablets

With tablets running Canonical's Ubuntu operating system, you'll be able to open applications like Twitter while, say, watching a video.

Image: Canonical

We all knew it was coming. Once Canonical unveiled the "Unity" interface for Ubuntu – its version of the open source Linux operating system – we could see that the company was taking Ubuntu onto tablets. But now the new is official: A tablet version of the OS will arrive next year.

The question is whether developers will actually build applications for it.

Linux already has an app deficit, and trying to catch up with Android and iOS in the mobile market will be tough. To that end, Canonical is trying to woo developers by making it dead simple to port Android and BlackBerry apps on Ubuntu.

On Tuesday, during a conference call with reporters, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said that it will be "really easy" for Android developers to port their apps to Ubuntu using a Java interpreter. "We're not going to try to make it happen by default, because we want applications by people who consciously choose to target Ubuntu, but we make it really easy to do," he said.

He said that the Ubuntu QML development environment is very similar to BlackBerry's development environment, which should ease the process of converting apps originally built for BlackBerry phones. The Ubuntu tablet OS will also run applications written in HTML5 and JavaScript, the standard languages for building apps on the web.

The mobile version of the operating system will be able to run the same apps that run on the desktop version, as Canonical announced earlier this year. Canonical's strategy is to put Ubuntu on every device you own – be a TV, phone, tablet, or PC – and create a single experience that spans those devices.

"It's one operating system that adapts itself to whatever device it is booted on," Shuttleworth said. This lets developers build a single application – or binary file – that will run on any device running Ubuntu.

What about Windows applications? Shuttleworth points out that you can already access Windows applications on Ubuntu via tools using virtual desktop software from companies such as Citrix.

Shuttleworth said that some apps will be able to side-by-side in split-screen interface. This will make multitasking easier, Shuttleworth explained. You'll be able to, say, play a video on one side of your screen and Twitter on the other. A business user might use this feature for taking notes during a video conference.

When docked to a keyboard and mouse, the tablet version of Ubuntu will instantly transition to the desktop version of the operating system.

Image: Canonical

The tablets will be able to connect to a keyboard and a mouse, so that they can double as desktop machines. And these tablets will be built with both Intel Atom and ARM chips.

The OS will also provide full disk encryption. With businesses in mind, the devices will let you run multiple user accounts, each protected by this encryption scheme. "We expect to see the tablets adopted initially by enterprise," Shuttleworth says, referring to big businesses.

The source code for the OS will be released on Thursday, and as Canonical had previously announced, the phone version of the OS will be released then. The two OSes use the same code base.

Shuttleworth says that an unnamed company has already agreed to build the first Ubuntu phone – "A major player in the silicon industry will commit to Ubuntu and optimize Ubuntu to their platform" and that the devices will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2014.

The plan is to launch with this preferred partner and two mobile carriers in two different markets. At launch, there will be both low-end and high-end versions of the phone. Tablet launches will be dependent on partnerships with PC manufacturers. Because of the carrier certification issues, he's not sure whether the tablets or phones will ship first.

In the meantime, Canonical plans to launch a working version of Ubuntu that can be installed on existing Samsung Nexus phones this October.